This was my first in-person escape room experience, and unfortunately it set the bar really high. Everything, from the overall story, to the sets and puzzles, to the actors/staff, is so well-thought-out and put together. The real differentiator here from what I assume a "typical escape room" experience is, was the level of acting and improvisational talent, which made the whole experience super interactive and made us feel like we really had a say in what happened next. Actors never broke character, and instead were able to showcase even the administrative stuff like rules in a creative way - all in-character and fitting the theme (e.g. portraying rules through interactive tarot card readings prior to our entrance into the rooms).
The owner/creative director, who was also the first character we encountered, was incredible and charismatic. He really set the stage for a great experience in the upcoming rooms. Moving into the actual game, the area is made up of multiple rooms that can unlock depending on the course of your actions. The actor inside -- I think there may have been more than one, but we encountered one main one -- was also talented. She never once broke character, all while smoothly providing help to us when we needed it, as a sort of guide (which I assume typical escape rooms have), but was also a large part of the story and our decisions (which I assume typical escape rooms don't always have, at least in such depth).
The special effects were pretty good (there were some cool transition effects both initiated by the actor in response to our actions, as well as by us discovering something in the room), and I think the way the actors, set, and effects all came together really let us feel immersed and have fun with the puzzles, which were also nicely varied and challenging, but not frustratingly-difficult.
It was also just really fun and funny overall -- I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like this, but inside the room wasn't 100% serious and solemn. We joked around with the actor who (without a second of hesitation) had a relevant and quick retort to everything we threw at her, all of course in line with her character. It was really entertaining and enjoyable, and also our entry came with a free drink ticket which you could use before or after the main part.
The story is well-written and cohesive, great for people who like time travel stories and historical settings -- We did 1897 Heresy this time, but I'd probably go back for 1917 Madness and others. I'm imagining a sort of lighter, fun, escape room version of Sleep No More. read more